9 Ways of the Vanir Spread or Cast: In depth Divination

Hey everyone,

I have been working on the Vanir Glyphs book steadily and it is almost complete. This week I have been sort of beta testing the glyphs for divination using the cast or spread I created based on the Nine Ways of the Vanir listed in the Alvíssmál, translated by Henry Adams Bellows. In this question and answer series between  the dwarf Alviss and Thor. Alviss describes different concepts in terms of how they are named by different groups of wights, One of these being the Wanes (Vanir).

The nine subjects attributed to the Vanir are as follows, how the Wanes refer to it, and the second being what it is Thor asks Alviss to describe. For example Thor asks what the wights call earth, and to the Wanes it is called "the ways," etc. etc. These nine subjects are commonly referred to as the " ways of the Vanir."

The Ways = Earth
The Weaver of Winds = Heaven
Kites of the Winds = Clouds
The Hush of Winds = Calm
The Wave = Sea
Wildfire = Fire
The Wand = Wood
Growth = Seed
The Foaming= Ale

I chose the number nine as the the perfect number of draws for the in-depth personal readings because of the importance of the number both in Vanic and general Norse mythos. I immediately thought of the Nine Ways, and decided to take another look at them. I saw that each of these ideas could signify an element of the querant's life, and so I designed the cast specifically in reference to this for use with the Vanir glyphs.

As I stated above, I have been experimenting with the cast and doing readings using the glyphs and have found it to be very effective. Though another, (perhaps wiser) person might choose to keep it under wraps, I have decided to share this particular cast with my blog readers. I have done this because I feel that it could be used with any number of divination methods, such as the runes or tarot, with similar effectiveness. The only change I have made to the original Bellows translation is the replacement of heaven with sky. I feel this is truer to the original meaning, not to mention removes the spiritual implications of the word "heaven" which has no place in Old Norse myth.

NINE WAYS CAST

    l                 Seed
  l l             Calm         Ale
l l l           Sea        Earth        Sky
  l l            Wood    Clouds
    l                             Fire

 (TO BE CAST IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER)

EARTH: Current Self and Situation
SEA: External Problems and Environment
SKY: Aspirations and Desires for Future
WOOD: Strengths
CLOUDS: Doubts and Fears
FIRE: Passions and Inner Desires
CALM: Insights
ALE: Best Path Forward
SEED: Future Growth/ Proposed Outcome

I hope you all can utilize this cast or spread in your own divination, particularly if you work with the Vanir gods. I would love to hear your thoughts and comments, feel free to ask me any questions or share your results in the comments! 

In Frith
Cena











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